Genii Weblog

What should I call it - keyword search? contextual cross references?

Mon 19 May 2003, 11:12 AM



by Ben Langhinrichs
What do you do when you realize you have invented something new, but didn't recognize it for what it was?  Not quite serendipity, since I knew what I was creating, but simply didn't recognize the possible uses.

Anyway, I have started to realize that there is a lot of power in the concept I use in the LinkMatching method I mentioned before which uses a view to create cross reference links automatically.  I first added in @YourCommand for Notes R3, but I didn't realize that it might have more universal uses.  I have added several new methods into Midas 3.10 (soon to be released) which use these, include ReplaceMatching, AppendMatching, HighlightMatching and KeywordMatching, as well as the additional capabilities I built into the original LinkMatching earlier.  I mentioned some of this capability before in my second post on how Midas could help blogging, but I am starting to realize that there are uses outside of blogging.

The only problem I really see is, what do I call the darn thing?  Anybody have any idea what to call the whole concept of searching and acting on keywords derived from a view or external data set?  Keyword search?  Contextual cross references?  Simple KM? Data Mining for dummies?

Copyright © 2003 Genii Software Ltd.

What has been said:


9.1. Robert Basic (05/19/2003 10:00 AM)

this system as you describe it can be found on Wiki's. I dont know if you have ever heard before about Wiki's. If you write a new text you can use two uppercase letters and Wiki recognizes it as a link/keyword. E.g. you use the term "NotesDocument", Wiki adds a "?" so the user can click on this question mark and opens a new site for NotesDocument. Afterwards the question mark disappears in the first document and you see a link underline as usual under NotesDocument pointing to the second document.

Problem with Wiki: if you compose a third document and use the term "CollecTion" Wiki does not update all contents including the keyword "CollecTion"/"collection" as a link to the document "Collection".

So Wiki is 50% static and 50% dynamic.

An additinoal idea: different users have different information needs ("Turtle problem"... ;-). If your tool would be able to filter the dynamic linking as such that in one and the same document a supporter guy see only his keyword linkings (like a supporter thesaurus), the sales guy see his keyword links (like "IBM", "Product XYZ") and so on. So you have no more an information overflow by linking everything and anything.

How to call your system? "Semantic Linking", "Dynamic Linking", "Infospider", "Eye of Midas", ....


9.2. Ben Langhinrichs (05/19/2003 12:08 PM)

Absolutely, each person can see only links/highlights/etc. on their own information. It is harder to know how to automate that for a blog, but on a product basis it works well. You can point at your name & address book, for example, so each user only sees links based on their own data.

What Wiki has done is built the data directory building into their product, which is a great idea for a blog, but in most cases, the data directory is there (e.g., name & address book, products db, Help db, etc.) and the end-user would never be left the task of building it.


9.3. Richard Schwartz (05/19/2003 09:18 PM)

I implemented this concept in an on-line glossary app several years ago. I just called it "automatic links" or something similarly boring.

How about: "Inferrential Linking"? "Hypermation"? "Link-o-matic"?

-rich


9.4. Richard Schwartz (05/19/2003 09:19 PM)

Ooooh!!! I've got it!!!

"Linkhinrichs"

-rich


9.5. Ben Langhinrichs (05/19/2003 09:55 PM)

Ouch!


9.6. Robert Basic (05/20/2003 04:29 AM)

:-))))))))))


9.7. kenyee (05/21/2003 07:31 AM)

Sounds like SmartLinks or SmartRefs would do it for the name if I understand the concept correctly. It'd be a nifty feature for Notes/Domino users (assuming it also works w/ Notes).


9.8. Ben Langhinrichs (05/21/2003 07:55 AM)

Seth: I have thought about the SmartTags concept before, although that is all about hijacking someone else's content, and this is about enriching your own. Midas is also about to match patterns to some extent. Given that my products have had it released for years, I'm not too worried about MS patenting, but thanks. CrossLinks would be good for just the links, but not the other methods.

Ken: Of course it also works for Notes. I wrote the LinkMatching for Notes in R3 long before there was a web interface in Notes. Anyway, SmartRefs is pretty good. Let me think about that.


9.9. Ben Langhinrichs (05/21/2003 07:58 AM)

Contextual mapping and HyperMatching have also been suggested, and are top contenders, perhaps even as contextual hypermatching.


9.10. Mark (05/21/2003 08:58 AM)

Call it HotLiveConsensualContextualMatching.


9.11. Ben Langhinrichs (05/21/2003 09:26 AM)

We have a winner! LOL.